Pride 2014: NPA slate boosts name recognition at Pride parade

When the NPA announced its slate of new candidates, they weren't exactly household names in Vancouver.

Even the party's mayoral nominee, Kirk LaPointe, has relatively low name recognition, especially for someone at the top of the ticket.

At today's Pride parade, the NPA devised a clever idea to address this shortcoming.

The party plastered the name of each candidate on the front of his or her NPA Pride shirt.

Rob McDowell (on the far left in the photo) is running for council. He's a former diplomat and member of several arts boards.

Jay Jagpal (who's to the right of LaPointe) is running for park board. He's a mechanical engineer.

Sarah Kirby-Yung (top right) is also running for park board. She has a long history in the tourism industry, including a stint as a vice president of the Vancouver Aquarium. Kirby-Yung is now executive director of marketing and communications for Coast Hotels.

The remaining three people in the photograph are NPA park commissioner John Coupar, NPA park commissioner Melissa De Genova (who's running for council in 2014), and NPA councillor George Affleck.

Other NPA candidates, including councillor Elizabeth Ball, were also spotted on the NPA float.

But in the midst of all these NPA T-shirts, I never noticed any bearing the names of school trustees Sophia Woo or Ken Denike.

Perhaps the explanation lies in them being expelled from caucus after publicly objecting to a revised sexual orientation and gender identities policy in Vancouver schools.